In Another Life
by rafaelswaithe
Summary: When Julian Moreno and Fiona Gallagher were teenagers, they were inseparable. Then, Fiona dropped out of school and they gradually lost touch. Now, after years away, Julian is back in Chicago and runs into Fiona again after all of that time.
1. Chapter 1

A siren rang in the distance as Julian walked his way down the street. It was nothing foreign to hear a sound such as that in the south side, and having grown up straddling the line between the north and south, he was more than used to it. Even after not being in town for several years, nothing had really changed, or at least not enough for it to matter.

With every block, every house was just the same, albeit slightly aged, and every business was still just as worn down. He gradually made his way toward the business side of town, hands shoved in his pockets as he walked, hood pulled up over his head to break the chill of the autumn air.

Julian rounded one last corner, approaching the entrance of a local diner of sorts, Patsy's Pies. They'd always had some of the best pies, along with food that tasted as homemade as restaurant food could. Stepping inside, the male looked around, choosing a table and taking a seat.

After a few moments, a waitress came over to bring him a menu and take his drink order. She informed him that they were in the middle of a shift change, that his server would be with him soon. Julian thanked her and started to look over the menu, though he knew in his mind that he'd undoubtedly order the same burger and fries that he always did.

A few more minutes passed, and soon, he saw a new waitress approaching him. Apart from seeing that a woman in a Patsy's uniform was heading his way, he didn't take notice to much else. He had a full day planned, and he had only wanted to stop for a bite to eat, so that was his focus in that moment.

"Hi, thanks for waiting. What can I get for you?" the brunette asked, and Julian froze.

He would know that voice anywhere. Though it sounded a bit aged, that voice had been burned into his brain from the time he was fifteen, and it was impossible to forget. He should know, after all, he'd definitely tried.

Lowering his menu, he looked up at the female, eyes questioning as he took in the sight of her. It had been over five years since he'd really seen her, and she still looked just as good as he remembered. Life had worn her down, he could tell, but if there was anything that he knew about Fiona Gallagher, it was that life could never _keep_ her down.

"Fiona?" Julian questioned, noting in his mind how stupid it was to question that it could truly be her. Who else would it be?

"Julian! Holy shit, it's been what, years? How are things?" Fiona asked, her head tilting with the question.

The two hadn't parted on bad terms, per se, yet it hadn't been a great way to end things, either. The two had been together when Fiona dropped out of school, and from that point on, they seemed to gradually fall out of touch until eventually, the only time that they spoke was when they'd run into each other in public.

After high school, Julian left Chicago, heading off to college and to begin a life for himself. It wasn't until a day ago that he'd returned, intent on spending some time reminiscing on his past, among other things. He had no idea, however, just how much of his past would come out to play.

"Things are.. things are good," he replied with a little chuckle, eyes roaming over her frame, then back to her face. "I'm back in town for a little while. It seems like the same old neighborhood," he spoke, taking a glance out of the window, then back in her direction.

"It might as well be," Fiona laughed lightly, nodding. "Some things have changed, but it's definitely the same old south side," she shrugged. Shaking her head as she looked him over, she noted all of the small changes about him. He had some facial hair now, when before he'd always kept himself clean shaven for school. It suited him.

Despite any changes, Fiona observed that he definitely still had the same soft eyes. They'd always differed from the persona he put forth to anyone who would accept it — that he was tough, an asshole, someone not to fuck with. While that was true, Fiona had known the other side of him, the side that was warm, that showed he cared, and was fiercely protective of not only himself, but her too.

Fiona shook her head, realizing that she'd allowed herself to trail off into her own thoughts. "Did you know what you wanted, or did you still need more time?" she asked, gesturing to his menu.

Julian looked down at the menu, closing it a second later. "Yeah, just the classic burger and fries, please." He passed the menu back to her, which she took and nodded, taking note of what he wanted in her mind.

"Okay, I'll get that order in for you," she spoke with a little smile, then started to walk away.

"Fiona," Julian called, causing her to stop in her tracks. Turning on her heel, she moved back to his table, "Yeah?" she asked, curious if she'd forgotten something.

"Are you busy? Or can you come back and catch up once you put that order in?" It was a long shot, but he hadn't seen her in years, and he wanted to talk with her more and see how things had _really_ been for her within that time.

Fiona bit down on the inside of her cheek, shifting from one foot to the other as she thought it over. She had gotten this job as a favor from her parole officer, and though the manager liked her, the last thing that she needed was to screw it up. She'd already seen just how much of a challenge it had been to get a job with her record.

"I'll try, yeah. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay at a time, but I can try?" she spoke, tilting her head as she waited to see if that would be alright with him.

Julian thought for a moment, "What time do you get off?" he asked.

"Ten," Fiona responded, nose scrunching a little at the fact. She doubted that he'd want to waste his time with her that late at night.

He nodded in response, thinking it over. After all, it was only lunch time, and he did other things planned for the main part of the day. "Do you have plans then? I could pick you up," he suggested.

Fiona hummed a bit in thought, thinking it over. It would be nice to have a ride, though she wasn't sure she should push it too far with how late she stayed out. After all, she had just recently gotten off of house arrest.

"Come on," Julian urged, "we can't corrupt each other any more than we already have." A soft smirk played on his lips at the joke, and he saw her roll her eyes at him, and then smile, just as she always had years before. It was always a sign to him that he was getting somewhere.

"_Fiona_," he spoke, tone insistent and pleading. "Live a little," he shrugged.

Fiona let out a huff of a breath and shook her head, "I've lived enough in the past few months to last a lifetime. But.. _fine_. Ten o'clock it is," she agreed, turning on her heel and walking into the kitchen to place his order.

Julian shook his head to himself, letting out a soft laugh. He was glad to see that even as the years had gone by, Fiona had managed to retain her personality. Though she had always been beautiful, her personality was something that stood out to him. She got him in a way that no one else ever had, and most of all, she had given him a chance when most of the kids at their school had written him off as the north side kid slumming it on the other side of the tracks.

His parents had been from opposite sides of the city, his mom growing up in the more privileged north side, and his dad on the south side. His mother, Emilia's parents had always despised his father, Christian, complaining that he was dragging Emilia down. The last thing that they'd wanted to hear was that Emilia was pregnant with Christian's child and the two of them were planning to do the right thing, or at least what was seen as such at that time, and get married.

Upon hearing that, and without their daughter knowing, Emilia's parents offered Christian a large amount of money, enough to leave and start over with a new life elsewhere. The only thing that they wanted in return was for him to leave the city and never speak to or see their daughter again.

As months went by and it came closer and closer to the time that Julian would be born, Christian felt more and more like a fish out of water, forced to fit in with the north side crowd and attend presumptuous events like Emilia's family. Two months before Emilia was due to deliver, Christian took the offer that was given to him and left Chicago, regretfully never contacting Emilia or his child as per the agreement.

Several years went by where Emilia was left devastated by Christian's abrupt, and to her, unexplained departure. Once Julian was nearly four years old, Emilia began gathering his important documents such as his birth certificate to enroll him in preschool. While sorting through the filing cabinet that her parents had kept those important documents, she found an old checkbook ledger, spotting a notation for August 26, 1989 marked simply _CH_.

The date had stood out to her like a sore thumb. _CH, Christian Herrera. _August 26 was the last day that she'd seen or spoken to Christian.

Upon confronting her parents, they admitted to paying Christian off, and out of spite, when enrolling Julian into school, Emilia ensured that he attended within the south side school district. She intended to make her parents' skin crawl, just as well as teach Julian how to be strong, tough, and take nothing from no one, even if that someone was family.


	2. Chapter 2

**FLASHBACK**

Julian stood toward the middle of the football field with his friends from the team, strategizing a few plays that the group intended to use at the next game. His hand waved in front of the face of one of his teammates, seeing that he was distracted, his gaze elsewhere. "Jake.. bro, eyes over here, huh?" he said with a little laugh.

He stole a glance to what the other boy had been looking at then, noticing as the track team was running practices on the track surrounding the practice field. It figured, the funding at the school was shit, and he highly doubted that the school could afford to provide more space for the different teams to practice.

His eyes scanned over the team, watching a few of the girls line up to do a sprint, which was when he saw her. Long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, slender frame, and an expression on her face like she was ready to mow down anyone who got into her way.

"Jake," Julian started, glancing quickly at his friend before looking back toward the girl, "who is that?"

"That's Fiona Gallagher.. I wouldn't bother, though. I've heard enough about her to know that's a road that you do _not_ want to go down," Jake replied.

It wasn't hard for a girl to get a reputation in their school. If a girl so much as made out with a guy, she was labeled as easy. If she had more than one boyfriend in the span of a school year and had made out with both, then she was a slut. It was pretty unfair if you asked him, but there wasn't much that Julian could do about it apart from ignore the rumors and make his own opinions of everyone.

That was just what he intended to do with Fiona Gallagher.

Practice was over after not much longer, Julian finding himself mildly distracted most of the time. He had definitely figured out just what his friend had been staring at, considering he himself had been doing the same when he wasn't actively running plays.

The football team started to grab their things and head to the locker room to shower up, but instead of following, Julian hung back, waiting for track practice to finish as well. Once it did, he moved from his spot on the bleachers, slowly moving over to where he spotted Fiona.

As he walked up to her, he stopped as they were about to meet, then watched, a bit dumbfounded, as she continued walking right past him. His brow furrowed and he moved to catch back up with her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Fiona, hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"Do I know you?" the brunette asked, lightly shrugged his hand from her shoulder. It was easy to see that he was part of the football team, and if this was some sick joke that they were planning, she refused to play into it. She'd much rather just get a shower and go home. She was sure that her brothers needed her to make some dinner, anyway.

"No.. no, you don't. I'm Julian. I'm on the football team, and I saw you during practice. You're really good. What are you clocking? You've got to be close to the record time," he rambled.

"Thank you. Do you always ramble like this, or are you just dehydrated?" she spoke, continuing to walk and noticing as he fell into step beside her.

Julian's brow wrinkled at her question. He had been rambling, hadn't he? Damnit. "What can I say? Maybe you make me a little nervous," he shrugged. It was a line, sure, but he was being genuine — she was much more intimidating than he'd originally thought.

Fiona's eyes rolled almost automatically, but she couldn't help but let out a small laugh at his words. "Oh, really? Is that what you tell all of the girls?" she asked, finally taking a moment to look over at him fully.

The young male shook his head quickly, a smile on the corners of his lips as he heard her laugh. "Only the ones that look like they could kill me with just a look," he teased.

Another laugh left Fiona's lips, a bit louder this time. "Wow, it's like you went to some seminar. Do they teach guys all of those lines in school?" she spoke, teasing him slightly in return.

Julian felt his cheeks flush lightly and he laughed quietly, "No, I wish. Maybe if they did, I'd be better at all of this," he reasoned. He took a sip from his water bottle, looking over at her.

Fiona met his gaze with her own when she felt his eyes on her again, shaking her head to herself. "Well? You've talked to me for a minute, just like you asked.. what now?" she asked him, stopping and crossing her arms as she looked up at him. He'd come to speak to her for a reason, right? She was ready to hear the official pitch.

He smiled that much more at her words, albeit a little nervously. A soft chuckle passed his lips and he glanced down at the ground, "Well, how about we clean up, then go get dinner or something?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as he waited for her response.

She bit down on her lip in the center, shifting from one foot to the other as she considered his offer. It was nice, and she knew that if he was doing what was _supposed_ to be the right thing, then he would pay and she wouldn't have to worry about it. Still, she needed to get home. _Damn Monica and Frank._

"I.. actually have to get home. It's my turn to help with dinner tonight," Fiona replied, tilting her head as well. It wasn't a total lie. She _would_ be helping with dinner — helping to make sure that the kids got any. "Another time, though?" she suggested, starting to slowly walk backward and away from him.

"Oh, come on.. live a little," he teased her, hoping to get her to change her mind, but Fiona held strong.

She laughed quietly, then repeated herself, "Another time." Giving him a soft, but warm, smile, she turned then, heading off into the locker room to clean up.

_Another time._

Julian could live with that. He just hoped that it wouldn't take too long for that time to come.

As Fiona walked into the locker room, she heard a few of the girls from the track team chattering and listened in a bit closer to their conversations.

"_Who the hell does she think she is?"_ one voice asked. Another answered, _"I know! As if Julian Moreno would look twice at her if he knew more about her."_

Instead of starting a fight, Fiona smiled at the girls as she passed, preferring to take a more passive approach. She could get them back in the long run much easier that way. "What's going on?" she asked, acting nonchalant and grabbing her things for a shower.

"Oh," one of the girls, she believed her name was Ashley, Stephanie, or something else of the pretentious sort started to say. In that moment, another of the girls spoke up instead. "One of the cheerleaders, you know? It's like they think they own the place, and all of the guys drool over them. It's just gross, isn't it?"

Fiona fought off a smirk, knowing that the girl was bullshitting her to try and avoid being caught. "So gross. Hey, those girls are bitches, though. I wouldn't bother with it. Anyone who thinks they're better than you isn't really worth your time anyway, right?" she spoke, faking a smile as she grabbed her towel and change of clothes and walked off toward the showers.

Maybe the other girls were right about her. Maybe Julian _wouldn't_ want anything to do with her once he found out more about her and her life. Still, she told herself that it was none of their business. If Julian was going to decide that she wasn't worth his time, she was going to let it happen on his and her terms, not because of something that some stuck up girls had said.

Julian walked into the guys' locker room after Fiona had headed off to the girls' and started to grab his things and prepare for a shower. It was then that he saw his teammate Jake again. "Hey," the other male started. "Where have you been?" he asked.

Julian shrugged his shoulders, "I stayed behind until track practice was finished to talk to Fiona," he answered simply.

Jake furrowed his brow and shook his head, "I'm telling you, bro, you don't want any of that. If you go that route, definitely make sure you wrap it up, that's all I'm saying. Her mom is whacked, and her dad is at the Alibi every night without fail. The last thing you want is to get tied into that and be slumming it on the low end of the south side for the rest of your life."

Julian eyed Jake confusedly. He knew that everyone had their reputations at the school. His was that he was a privileged north side kid who just so happened to be on the edge of the school district and sent to a south side school. Everyone said that he was entitled, and that he was slumming it by being at their school, but to Julian, it was all that he'd ever known.

Sure, his grandparents still helped his mom out here and there, but he'd been in south side schools all of his life. He wasn't sure that he'd know what to do or how to act if he were to go anywhere else.

He shook his head, "It's not like that, man. She seems like a cool girl. Besides, how many girls in this school are labeled a slut because they slept with you? I'm sure the list is getting up there."

Jake arched his brow, "Whoa. I'm just looking out for you. The guys have just now stopped seeing you as some north side asshole. The last thing that you want to do is mess that up by getting tangled up with Fiona Gallagher."

Julian scoffed, "Yeah, I'd hate to not be one of the cool kids," he replied sarcastically. He didn't care about status, or about what others thought of him. He never had, and he wasn't about to start.

With that thought in mind, he walked toward the showers, calling over his shoulder, "I'll see you later. Don't worry, I'll try not to ruin my reputation while I'm in the shower."


	3. Chapter 3

**FLASHBACK**

A few weeks passed before Julian and Fiona were truly able to have a proper conversation again. Yet, those weeks were spent stealing smiles from one another in the hallways at school, easily growing distracted when seeing one another at their respective practices, and still trying their best to keep track of their own lives in the process.

Fiona had told Julian the last time that they spoke that they could get dinner another time. He knew that could mean any time, yet he was hesitant to ask again, not wanting to get turned down again. He hoped that soon enough, he'd get the opportunity to truly have a conversation with her and take her out. Julian knew that if he could do that, maybe he'd have a chance at the two of them becoming more in the long run.

Despite those thoughts, he still took his time in pursuing Fiona, and after a few more days, she'd grown tired of the game. She had played hard to get when they'd first met, having been led to believe that's what a girl should always do, but although it seemed like he wanted her, he didn't chase her as much as he had originally, and Fiona wanted to know why.

As she walked through the halls at school, she saw him at his locker and took the opportunity while it was presented. Walking over to him, she pushed his locker closed to get his attention, then tilted her head, looking up at him, "Are you ever going to ask me out again?" she questioned, arms crossing in a bit of a challenging stance.

Julian's brows arched in response and he looked down at her with a little chuckle, "You said another time, I wasn't sure when would be good for you," he shrugged. "I'd hate to be turned down again. I'm not sure my ego could handle it," he added, a soft smirk on his lips.

Fiona scoffed at his words and her eyes rolled almost automatically. "If I was going to keep turning you down, I would have never said 'another time'. So.." Her shoulders lifted and fell in a shrug of their own. "Are you going to take me to dinner tonight, or not?"

The boy's smirk widened as he looked at her, enjoying her forwardness. She truly was something else. She was unlike any of the other girls at school who had shown interest in him, and if you asked him, that was a good thing. There always seemed to be something missing with them, but not with Fiona. Fiona drew him in effortlessly.

"Yeah.. yeah, I'm taking you to dinner. We can meet up after practice," Julian replied, biting down on his lip in the center. The thought of it all immediately sent a flurry of nerves through him, and he could only imagine that this was what people meant when they spoke of butterflies in their stomachs.

Fiona smiled as he agreed to take her out, nodding to acknowledge the plan of meeting after practice. She rocked back on her heels for a moment, suddenly feeling nervous instead of the rush of confidence that she'd had minutes prior.

Typically, Fiona never gave guys the time of day, though several had tried. She had learned early on from talk around the neighborhood that most guys were only out for one thing, and she wasn't about to give herself up that easily.

Most of the guys at school believed that they could get ahead by sleeping with different girls, yet if a girl were to sleep around, she'd have the reputation as a slut. Even if a girl didn't sleep with anyone, she still had a chance to be called a slut for many of the same things that guys were getting praised for. It just wasn't worth it to her.

Apart from that, Fiona had many more responsibilities than most fifteen-year olds. As the oldest of her siblings, she was always the one looking out for the younger ones when her parents were indulging their addictions and being particularly negligent.

It was a tough role for someone as young as she was, yet she'd rather take all of that on than have her family go without, or worse, be taken into social services. She'd been through that several times in her life already, and if she could prevent that happening to her younger siblings, she'd do anything that she could, no matter how much stress that it put on her.

"Okay, yeah, we'll meet up after practice. Just try not to stare at my ass too much in the meantime. I know you've been watching me at practice," she teased Julian, a playful smirk growing on her lips.

A scoff passed his lips and he shook his head, "Not any more than you've been looking at me. I think we're even, Gallagher," he spoke, nudging her shoulder with his. Reopening his locker, he grabbed what he needed for his next class as he looked back at her.

"Yeah, well.. I guess we are even," she started. "Still, if you keep looking, I'm going to start charging you interest by the minute." She bit down on her lip in the center, fighting a small laugh as she started to walk backward. "I'll see you after practice."

Julian rolled his eyes at her teasing and shook his head. "See you after practice," he replied, watching as after he agreed, she turned to walk away, presumably in the direction of her own class.

The rest of the day seemed to crawl by, and they both knew why. Everything was just a waiting game at this point, and they were both tired of waiting. Waiting to see how things played out tonight, waiting to see if they progressed from there, but most of all, waiting to see the outcome and how things would turn out in the long run. At least by tonight, the first bit of waiting would be over.

Once both of their practices were over, they both wasted no time going to the locker rooms to shower up and get cleaned off and ready.

Julian wasn't sure if she had a specific place in mind, but he intended to take Fiona wherever she wanted to go. He'd been saving up his money for a little while now, wanting to be able to buy whatever he might want for himself, and so he knew that he had enough to take her anywhere.

Fiona did everything that she could to look her best. She was sure that he had seen plenty of north side girls look better with half of the effort that she was putting in, but she still wanted to try. She wasn't super girly by nature, and she didn't approve of fixing yourself just for a guy, but she intended to look nice.

After they were both ready, they met up outside of their corresponding locker rooms, Julian smiling immediately upon seeing Fiona. She noticed his smile with ease and gave him a smaller, shyer one of her own. "So.." she started, stopping in front of him and looking up at him from where she stood, "where are you taking me?"

Julian tilted his head at her question, humming lightly as he considered it. Since she'd been the one to approach him about their previously postponed plans, he'd thought she might have an idea. "Well, do you have anywhere in mind? Anywhere that you've been wanting to go?" he asked her.

Fiona bit down on her lip, shifting from one foot to the other, considering her options. There _was_ a new grill-type restaurant in town that she'd wanted to try. "We can go anywhere?" she questioned, not used to being able to just go to whichever restaurant she wanted.

"Anywhere that you want," he agreed, nodding lightly.

Fiona nodded as well as he agreed that they could go anywhere. "There's that new grill in town, I want to go there," she replied, holding her head high to show that she was confident in her decision.

Julian let out a little laugh at her expression, but didn't protest. He'd wanted to try the new restaurant himself. Holding out a hand to her, he gave her a smile, "Okay. Let's go, then."

He could feel his heart race with each second that went by that she didn't take his hand. His throat was growing dry, and he swallowed before biting down on his lip as he waited. She gave him a playful smirk after a moment, seeing his nervous expression before finally taking his hand and starting out of the school with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**FLASHBACK**

The pair walked from the school to the transit station together, much to Fiona's surprise, but not disappointment. "Oh, come on. You don't want to show off your north side roots? Don't you guys have drivers or your own car by the time that you're thirteen on that side of the city?" she teased him.

Julian scoffed a little at her teasing, shaking his head. So, she had heard about him being from the north side and still hadn't blown him off. It was surprising to him, considering when most of the kids at their school found out they either wanted nothing to do with him, or only wanted to hang out with him because they thought that his family was wealthy. She didn't seem to fit either of those categories, and though he was happy about that, it was new to him.

"I don't have a driver or my own car. My mom's _parents_ are north side. If anyone drives me anywhere, it's her. She never wanted me to have anything just handed to me or trust blindly. She wanted me to work for everything that I have and want," he shrugged.

"I see," Fiona nodded. It was a bit of a shock, a north side kid who had managed to slip into a south side school from day one, who saw the struggles that a lot of the south side families went through, yet still didn't want to just give over to his roots.

"Don't get me wrong, it was nice when I was a kid, to be able to ask my grandparents and get whatever I want, but my mom put a stop to that pretty early on," he spoke. "We've never had to struggle too much, but she's never liked accepting handouts from them for as long as I can remember, either."

Fiona listened intently, tilting her head, "So, basically, your mom wanted to make sure that you weren't some entitled elitist, that's a plus," she said, nudging him lightly as they made their way onto the subway car and found a place to sit.

Julian smirked at her words, but nodded, "Basically, yeah," he replied, sitting beside her as the subway car began to move, taking them toward the city. He let out a little sigh, looking over at her, "What about you?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders a little at the question, intent to avoid it a little, "Oh, my family is all from south side. I don't think that it's ever been any different," she spoke.

His brow furrowed slightly and his head tipped to the side. "Oh.. no, I meant what are your parents like?"

Fiona shifted uncomfortably in her seat, thinking about how to answer that question as vaguely as she could. She didn't want their date to end just as soon as it had started because he saw her for what the other kids at school had said about her.

"Oh. Well, they're pretty absent, honestly? But, I guess if nothing else, it's taught me some independence and responsibility? I have younger siblings, so I do what I can to help them."

There it was, out in the open. Sure, it was a pretty broad answer that could mean anything, but with the things that he'd probably heard about her, she was sure that he could fill in the blanks. The question was, would he stay after knowing all of that for sure? Or would he take off as soon as he could?

"I understand," he nodded. "I don't have any siblings, but my mom's basically all that I have. I've never met my dad," he admitted. That fact was something that he didn't normally spill to just anyone. If someone got to know him, they'd figure it out in a short amount of time, but he still didn't just go around spilling that information.

Fiona's brow arched at his admission and she nodded slowly. She was starting to think that she had read him all wrong. Maybe everyone had. He wasn't some stuck up playboy, and he didn't think that he was better than anyone. If anything, he was more similar to his classmates than they truly knew.

"I'm sorry," Fiona murmured. Sure, he wasn't the only one with a tragic backstory, but she still felt the need to apologize for the things that she'd assumed of him.

"It's okay." Julian shook his head, taking claim of her hand again, lacing his fingers through hers and rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand. "You didn't know, now you do."

It was somewhat quiet as they rode the rest of the way to the city, getting off of the subway at the stop nearest to the restaurant. Their hands remained intertwined as they exited the subway, walking down the sidewalk and stopping to wait and be seated at the restaurant.

"So.." Fiona spoke up, looking over at him. "You play football, is that something you always want to do, or just something for fun?" she asked him.

Julian considered her question before letting his shoulders rise and fall in a shrug, "It's something that I enjoy doing for now. I don't think I'll have a career in it or anything, but if it gets me a scholarship so I can go to college for free, then so be it."

Fiona bit her lip at the mention of college, fighting a scoff. College was nothing short of a pipe dream for her. It just didn't seem like it would happen. She had way too many responsibilities and things to take care of at home before she could even begin to consider going to school.

"You're really good on the track team. I heard you're one of the best distance runners we have," Julian spoke up. "You think you'll continue that, or is it just something to pass the time until you find something else?" he asked.

Something else? Fiona rarely thought too much into the future, so she hadn't truly considered how far she could go if she continued track. Any time that she tried to make plans for her future, Frank and Monica got in the way and it got messed up somehow. "I'm not really sure. I think I'm just going to take it one day at a time."

Julian nodded, biting down on the inside of his cheek as he thought of what else he could ask her or that they could even just talk about. As he was thinking, Fiona spoke up, "What's the craziest thing that you've ever done?" she asked.

He thought to himself, humming quietly under his breath as he considered his answer. "Me and some of the guys from the football team snuck into the movies not too long ago. Bought a ticket for a normal movie and snuck into one of the rated R films," he spoke. "Also, we TP-ed some houses recently too. Nothing too crazy, I guess now that you think about it."

Fiona nodded as she listened to him. She liked a bit of adventure, but if there was too much crazy in one person, then she felt that it was just asking for disaster. She learned that just from knowing Frank and Monica.

"Okay," she started. "What made you pick me to ask out? Why not one of the other girls? I'm sure they would have said yes to you in a heartbeat," she spoke, tilting her head as she watched his expression, curious to what his answer would be.

"There's just.. I don't know. There's something different about you that stood out to me, as cliché as that sounds. You're not like them, and I mean that in a good way," Julian shrugged.

Fiona felt a small smile creep over her lips at his response, and she nodded lightly, leaning against him a little where they waited, then were finally seated to eat minutes later.

In an effort to not go completely crazy with price, Fiona ordered a specialty burger and fries, and Julian followed suit. They spent the time between bites of food getting to know one another that much more, and when dessert came, Fiona thought to herself for a minute.

She ate a few bites of her dessert before asking the server for a to-go box. Julian's brow furrowed curiously as he watched her put it away while he continued to work on his own dessert. After a moment, he spoke up, unable to help himself, "Are you full? I know you were really excited about that molten cake."

His words were met with a small smile and shrug as she looked down at the table, biting down on her lip in the center. "No, I was, and I am. I just.. I think the kids would really love that, so I wanted to save some for them," she admitted.

Brown eyes shifted up to his a bit nervously, and she tilted her head to the side, "You're not.. mad or frustrated, right?" she asked him. She was unsure just how he'd react to her confession, but she'd understand if he was irritated about her saving food for someone else when he'd bought it for her.

Julian shook his head in response to her asking if he was mad, nudging the plate with his dessert a bit closer to the middle of the table and nodding to her fork for her to share his with him. It wasn't something that he'd offer normally or to just anyone, but with her, he felt that it would be worth it.

Later that night, they ended back up on the L, Fiona holding onto her to-go box full of dessert for her siblings and wearing Julian's sweatshirt due to her mentioning that she'd gotten cold. She wasn't sure why she hadn't been prepared for the chillier temperatures later that night, but she was thankful that he'd given up his hoodie so easily. Not only was it keeping her warm, but it was damn comfy, too.

As they rode the train back in the direction of Fiona's home, her head rested on his shoulder, her fingers wove through his as they held hands. Their conversations carried on until they reached their stop, getting off of the train and walking down the street toward her house.

"So, I'm going to assume that I can keep this, at least until I see you again," Fiona teased, tugging lightly at his hoodie. She smiled mischievously as she looked over at him, and as he grinned back and rolled his eyes, she already knew his answer.

"Of course. It gives us an excuse to keep talking," he joked in return, his fingers playing absentmindedly with hers as they walked.

"I'm sure you'll continue to find excuses, don't worry," Fiona grinned, leaning into his side a bit, slowing as they soon came to a stop in front of her house.

Turning to face him after making her way up the steps, she shrugged her shoulders, "Well, this is me. I guess I'll see you back at school?" she spoke.

Julian nodded, looking around at the neighborhood. Sure, it wasn't the nicest, but he was sure that there were worse places that she could be, and regardless, it didn't give anyone at school any right to talk badly about her or her situation.

"Yep, you sure will, bright and early," he replied, stepping a little closer to her. "I'm really glad that you agreed to come out with me. I had a good time, I hope you did too."

As Julian stepped closer, Fiona did as well, looking up into his eyes with ease, "I did, yeah. And thank you for dinner. We should do it again. Whenever you want," she nodded.

She wasn't sure what to do then, how to part ways with him, so she opened her arms to him, offering him a hug. So, as he stepped into it, her arms wrapped around him and they embraced, lingering in the moment for longer than the probably meant to.

The two started to pull away, and as they did, Julian looked down at Fiona, finding her looking back up at him. He knew in that moment that it was now or never. Leaning in, he pressed his lips softly to hers, then pulled back just a bit to see her reaction.

Fiona's brow arched slightly as she felt Julian's lips touch hers and she kissed back for the moment until he pulled away. She slid her hand to the back of his neck then, gently pulling him in for another.

That kiss lingered for a bit longer, and when it was done, Julian could have sworn that he saw fireworks and felt butterfly wings beating wildly inside his stomach. "Wow," he murmured.

Fiona let out a soft giggle and nodded to agree, finally pulling back after savoring the moment a bit longer. "I'll see you in school." Walking backward toward her door, she turned at the last moment, letting herself inside.

"See you in school," Julian nodded, waiting until she was inside and had closed the door. Once she had, he turned and walked back down the street, making his way home, where he knew that Fiona and the evening that they'd just shared would be the only thing on his mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Ten o'clock came around sooner than Julian thought it would, and just as he said he would, he returned to Patsy's to pick Fiona up. He walked into the diner just as she was getting ready to walk out and waited near the door. As Fiona looked up and saw him, she smiled, and Julian could have sworn that his heart did a flip in his chest.

Other than earlier that day, he hadn't seen her in years, but his body still seemed to react to her just the same way as it had when they were kids. They may have not been each other's firsts on everything, but when recounting his past relationships, Julian definitely counted Fiona as his first love. They had been young, sure, but the south side girl had been everything to him.

Once she'd finished up her last tasks, Fiona walked over to Julian, grinning up at him, "So, you came back.. it's really good to see you," she spoke. She hesitated for a second, but then opened her arms to him and moved in for a hug.

When the hug was offered, Julian took it instantly, arms wrapping around Fiona's slender frame and holding her close to him. "It's good to see you too, Fi," he replied softly, hands rubbing gently over her back as he savored the moment until he felt her start to pull away. Stepping back from her a bit, "Do you want to head straight home, or hang out somewhere?" he asked.

Fiona bit down on the inside of her cheek, considering her options briefly. She was just recently released from house arrest, and while she didn't have a curfew anymore, it didn't seem like a good idea to push things too far. "Bring me home, but you can stay for a bit and hang out. There's.." she paused with a little chuckle, "there's a lot for you to catch up on."

Julian nodded to agree, leading the way to his vehicle, opening the passenger door once they reached it to let her in. "Well, where should we start? How long has it been? Five years, maybe more?" he asked. He wasn't sure just how long it had been since they'd truly spent time together, all that he knew was that it was way too long in his opinion.

"Longer than that if you don't count the chance meetings," Fiona nodded, getting into the car and waiting as he shut the door for her and walked around to get in himself before speaking again. "What have you been up to? You left for school, right? Did you end up getting a football scholarship?"

"I did," he started, "but, I got hurt in my last year, wasn't able to play anymore. I hadn't intended to make a career out of it, but it didn't make it suck any less, you know?" he shrugged, starting the car and merging onto the road when it was clear. "Do you still live in the same place?" he asked.

"Yes, I do," Fiona nodded. "And I'm sorry, that's tough. So, what do you do for work?" She looked over at him as he drove, truly taking the time to take him all in. He'd always been gorgeous, and sure, he'd aged a bit, but so had she. It didn't take away the fact that he was still incredibly good looking.

Julian glanced over at her after a minute, giving her a little smile to acknowledge her apology, "It's okay. That's life, right? And I'm a night club co-owner and manager. There are two locations back in Columbus, Ohio. That's where I went to school, and I started off as a door guy, then worked my way up to bartending, and so on. I made manager at the first location, then that owner told me about their plan to open another, and I went in half on it."

Fiona's brow arched and her eyes widened as he talked about what he did for work. She knew it wasn't likely that he'd be stuck in some low-level job, but she was still impressed to see him doing so well for himself. It made her feel a sense of pride in him.

"Wow," she replied. "So, what brings you back to Chicago, then?"

Julian stole another look at her, noticing that she was impressed with him, and he felt proud to be able to do that again. Fiona's approval was always something that he admired. She had a way of always pushing him to do his best in the past, and he still felt the remnants of that now, which is why what he was about to admit was something that he found himself nervous about.

"Well.. I'm actually planning a move back to Chicago, and in doing so, I'm scouting for a location to open a club location here. Once it got up and running, I'd let my co-owner in Columbus buy me out and I'd be here full time," he answered.

It wasn't a bad thing, necessarily. In fact, it was good for the neighborhood for everyone to have more places to go. Still, it fell under the category of gentrification, which Julian knew that many south siders, including Fiona, weren't a fan of. While it made the neighborhoods nicer, it tended to force more of the lower-income families out of their homes, which was something that he himself didn't agree with.

Fiona stared straight ahead, pressing her lips firmly together for a moment before letting out a little breath, "I see." She nodded slowly, processing the information he'd given her. "So, this club, how far from the neighborhood would it be? Because you know, there's already been a handful of people going around trying to buy people out of their homes to flip them into something else. You know I hate that," she spoke.

"Not that it matters what I think," Fiona added after a moment. "You can do what you want, obviously. I'm just curious what I should expect."

Julian shook his head, "It's not near the neighborhoods. It will be far enough out to give the entertainment value, but not interfere with the quality of the neighborhood in any way," he assured her.

Fiona took that information in quietly, considering it as it came. Julian wouldn't lie to her, that much she knew. Though they hadn't seen each other in years, she knew that about him for sure. "So, when you move back, where are you planning to buy?" she questioned.

"I haven't decided that yet. I want to get everything that I can to all come together before I make any big final decisions," he shrugged.

Fiona nodded once more, acknowledging his answer. She knew that soon enough, he'd ask her about what had been going on in her life, and how could she admit all that had gone wrong? He deserved the truth, but how could she be honest when everything in her life had been turned on its head in the blink of an eye?

How could she go about telling him all of the things that she'd done, and all of the trouble that she had gotten herself into since he'd been gone? She knew that as soon as she told him all that had happened, he'd see her differently. Everyone did, even her own siblings, who had always looked up to her.

Still, she didn't want to lie to him. She had made mistakes, and she was going to regret them every day for the rest of her life, especially her more recent ones. She had never thought that she would end up in jail, especially due to her own negligence of her siblings. She'd always cared for them and taken care of each of them like they were her own, and in just one moment, it had been thrown away. One lapse in judgment, and everything had changed. She couldn't take it back, but she'd spend the rest of her days trying to make it right.

The car slowed as they reached Fiona's house, and as Julian pulled to the curb to park, she wondered if she should just say it. The last thing that she wanted was for him to come inside, the two of them spend more time together, and then him rush out once he found out what had happened.

_No_, she should just get it all out in the open.

The car came to a stop, and as the two of them sat for a minute in silence, Fiona looked over at him, trying to read his expression and see just how he'd react when she finally spoke up.

"I went to jail."


	6. Chapter 6

Fiona held Julian's gaze and as Julian looked back at her, she could see the shock in his expression. She had never been the typical good girl, but that was the last thing he had been expecting to hear.

"Wait, you what?" he asked, wanting to be sure that he heard her correctly and he hadn't zoned out due to the shock of her confession.

"I went to jail," she repeated. She paused a minute to let it sink in for him before speaking up again, not wanting to make him ask what she had done. "It was a stupid mistake, I wasn't paying attention and I was thinking about myself.. it was so stupid. I had coke, that I had been given by — well, that's an even longer story about another mistake — and a couple of friends and I were partying, enjoying ourselves.. I didn't realize.." she trailed off with a sigh, breaking eye contact with him as she looked down at the floor board.

Her hand came up to rub at her eyes and she pinched her nose at the bridge. "I thought I had put it up and out of reach, but Liam, my youngest brother, got into it, I guess thinking it was sugar or something.. he almost died, and I will live with that for the rest of my life."

Julian stared at Fiona dumbfounded, shaking his head. It was all a lot to process, but he was trying. First, came the fact that Fiona had been using drugs. Not weed, but a hard drug, cocaine. Then, there was the fact that she hadn't kept an eye on her brother, something that he knew from their past wasn't like her at all. To top it all off, she'd spent time in jail for all of it.

"Well, you definitely weren't lying when you said we had a lot to catch up on," he spoke quietly, letting out a little sigh. Looking over at her, he could see the distress in her expression as she remembered all that had happened, and he reached over, gently taking her hand into his and giving it a little squeeze.

"You made a mistake. A monumental, fucked up mistake, but.. as long as you're trying to do better and make it right, it's not unforgivable," he continued softly. "You messed up, but just think of how messed up things would have been for the kids if you hadn't been there. If you're anything like the Fiona that I remember, you'll find a way to make up for it, or at least do the best that you can."

As Julian took her hand, Fiona's eyes moved from the floor to their joined hands, and she squeezed his in return. She listened as he spoke, shaking her head to herself. She had never understood how one person could be so amazing in so many ways. He had always been so good to her, and just good in general, and part of her felt that she didn't deserve him, but the other part of her had always hoped that she was wrong.

Her lips pursed in response, taking in all that he had said, and she considered her reaction to herself. All that she wanted was to show him just how grateful that she was of him being so understanding. She had the strongest urge to kiss him, but part of her wondered if that was what he truly wanted, especially after she had made a confession like that.

Still, after a moment more of hesitation, she found herself leaning in, placing her free hand against his cheek and guiding her lips to his in a soft, lingering kiss.

Julian's brow furrowed in confusion as she leaned across the vehicle toward him, and then he felt her hand against his cheek, her lips against his.

It drew a soft sigh from his lips, and after a moment, he parted his lips against hers, resting his hand against the side of her neck to draw her in a bit closer, drawing a soft moan from her lips in turn as she deepened the kiss.

He wondered for a moment if this was the best thing to do. It had been years, and she was going through so much, yet he couldn't find it within him to push her away. Instead, he continued the kiss, keeping one hand at her neck to anchor her in close to him, and the other moving to her waist, resting against her side.

Fiona felt his hand against her waist and shifted out of her seat, moving between him and the steering wheel and into his lap, her arms sliding around his neck and the kiss growing more heated as she did. She situated her knees on either side of his thighs, letting out a soft groan as Julian's arms tightened around her.

The kiss continued for a bit longer, and soon Julian felt Fiona begin to grind her hips down against his. His hands slid to her ass, giving it a firm squeeze before letting out a soft sigh and pulling back from the kiss. He had to be sure that this was what she really wanted, and that it was a good idea.

"Fi.. Fiona," he spoke softly, moving a hand to gently tuck a fallen strand of her hair behind her ear. "Are you sure about this? I mean, I'm not complaining, trust me, but.. I just want this to be right."

Fiona sat back from him a bit, biting down on her lip in the center as she looked at him. He really couldn't be any more perfect if he tried, could he? Not only was he understanding of the things that had happened in her more recent past, but even after all of these years, he still wanted to make sure that she was happy above all else.

"I have to say, I can't remember the last time I was passed up on sex. That's pretty new for me," she teased, tilting her head to the side.

His eyes rolled almost automatically, and he leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. "I never said I was passing," he teased in return, resting his forehead against hers. "I just want to be sure that we go about this the right way."

Fiona shook her head a little as she looked at him, her own dark eyes holding his, "You're practically an angel, you know that?" she spoke softly.

Julian shook his head, "Not an angel, I just care about you," he replied, shrugging lightly.

She felt a pang in her chest at his words, unsure that he was able to understand just what they meant to her. It had been years since the two of them had been together, and he still cared about her? It was amazing to her, especially knowing all of the options that he likely had.

"Do you want to head inside with me?" she asked, tilting her head as she gave him a moment to consider it. She hoped that he agreed. She wasn't ready to part ways with him just yet.

He thought on it for a moment, then nodded slowly, "I do want to.. I can't exactly move too easily at the moment, though," he joked, gesturing to how she was still in his lap.

Fiona rolled her eyes, but laughed nonetheless, carefully moving back into the passenger's seat to get out of the car. After waiting for him to do the same, she led the way to her front door, unlocking it and letting them in.

She took his hand then, leading him inside and toward the kitchen, wanting to grab them a drink in case he wanted something like she did.

He squeezed her hand as he followed her into the house, seeing that it hadn't changed much, if at all. "Are you brothers and sister here right now?" he asked curiously. He doubted any of them would remember him, except maybe Lip or Ian, but he was curious.

"I think Lip is staying at school, the younger ones should be in bed, I'm not sure about Ian," Fiona replied, releasing his hand after a moment longer and going over to the refrigerator, taking out a beer and popping the cap, taking a sip. "Do you want one?" she asked.

Julian nodded at the offer, taking the bottle of beer when it was offered to him. He removed the cap and took a long sip. Looking around the kitchen, he gave her a little smile, "Not too much has changed around here, huh?" he commented. It seemed almost exactly the same as it had when they were teenagers.

"Not at all," Fiona replied. "Frank is here even less now, I think that's the only difference. That, and Monica is gone completely, only pops up every few years or so."

He pursed his lips and tilted his head at that, "I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing."

Fiona grinned a little at that, shaking her head, "After everything that's happened, I'm not sure either. I am the kids' legal guardian now," she shrugged.

Julian's brow arched at that, "Really? That's a lot of responsibility. But, I'm sure that you handle it really well," he spoke, sipping from his beer.

Moving over to the counter, she pushed up to sit on top of it, and he moved to stand between her legs. Fiona eyed him as she sipped from her own beer again, "Can I help you with something?" she asked playfully.

Julian pursed his lips and hummed softly, shaking his head, "I think I can manage," he joked back, leaning in and stealing a soft kiss, then another longer, more urgent one before pulling back again. "I'm really glad that I went to Patsy's today," he spoke softly against her lips.

Fiona grinned faintly, returning his kisses, "I'm glad too," she admitted.

Julian let out a soft sigh as he leaned back a bit, "If I don't go soon, I'm going to have trouble leaving at all." If he was honest, he didn't truly want to leave, but he didn't want to rush things with her, either. If they were going to find their way back together, he didn't want to risk anything messing it up.

Fiona nodded, releasing him reluctantly to let him step back. She gave him a faint pout, but truly she understood. She had left school when they were younger, which was what led to their split in the first place, so the last thing that she wanted was to mess up and somehow push him away again.

He finished the last few sips of his beer, then put the bottle into the trash, nodding for her to walk with him back toward the door. "I'll be in town for a bit, I'll be sure and make a point to see you again soon."

Fiona nodded, following behind him as he walked slowly, "Okay. Actually, give me your phone, I'll give you my number and we can make arrangements to spend more than an hour together another day."

Julian arched his brow, teasing her as he took out his phone and handed it to her, "Hmm, eager girl."

Her eyes rolled and she shook her head, "Shut up," she told him, though she couldn't help but laugh.

Once she'd finished putting her number into his phone, she texted herself so she'd have his. She handed the phone back to him, and he pocketed the device, then leaned in, pressing a last kiss to her lips. "I'll talk to you soon," he promised.

"I'll hold you to that," Fiona replied with a smile, watching as he left and headed out to his car.

Julian gave her a little wave before getting into the car and heading back to his hotel for the night.


	7. Chapter 7

Over the next week or so, Julian found himself fairly busy and tied up in more business meetings than he would have liked, yet he still made sure that he found time to text Fiona. There was never a day that went by without at least a few messages traded back and forth between their hectic work days.

Julian wanted to ensure that Fiona knew just how serious that he was about being back in her life. They had spent many years apart — too many in his opinion — and he didn't plan to let that happen again. Not if he had any say in the matter.

Finally came a day that he didn't have some sort of work obligation dealing with opening the new club, and he could finally have the time to himself. It would be nice to be able to relax and for even just one day, not think about all that he had going on. Once he had started to make arrangements upon arriving in Chicago, it seemed that everything got kicked into overdrive and he was finally getting the opportunity to breathe again.

Upon waking up that morning, albeit a little later than normal, he got up and got dressed in some comfortable, casual clothing and grabbed his things, heading out to his truck and starting to drive over to Fiona's.

Once he'd parked the SUV relatively close to her place, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed her number, hoping that she'd pick up. Maybe it had been poor planning for him to just come over, as she was likely already working or still asleep in preparation for work later that day. Still, he couldn't help the bit of excitement that he felt at the thought of getting to spend the day with her.

Soon, he heard her voice as she picked up the phone, and his lips almost immediately formed a smile.

"Hello?" Fiona answered, awake but not fully just yet. She was still wearing the clothes that she'd slept in and was working on her second cup of coffee, but she'd been happy to see his name pop up on her phone.

"Hey, stranger. Busy today?" Julian asked her, biting down on his lip as he waited for her response, looking toward the house as his fingers hovered over his keys, waiting for the words to signal that he could turn off his truck and head inside.

Fiona tilted her head as she rubbed her eyes, swallowing the sip of coffee that she had just taken in. "Hmm.. can't say that I am. What about you? How many important business meetings do you have to be in today?" she asked him teasingly.

Julian grinned to himself at her question, letting out a slight chuckle, "Surprisingly none. You up for some company?" His teeth moved to bite at the inside of his cheek as he listened for her reply, hoping that she didn't have some reason that they couldn't hang out.

She considered her answer for a moment, looking around the room. She was still waking up, she didn't know when the kids would be coming or going, and the house was a mess. Still, it was the first chance that the two of them had in a while to spend some time together.

"Sure, when?"

He took her response as a cue, turning off his truck and getting out, closing the door. Walking toward the front door to her house, he hummed, "How about now?"

Fiona's brows arched and she nearly choked on the sip of coffee she'd started to take. "Wait, you're _here_? _Now_?" she asked, shocked as she set her cup down and hurried to the front door.

As the door opened, she was just in time to see Julian making his way up the steps to the house. Hanging up her phone, she tilted her head at him curiously, yet there was still a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"Yeah.. hope that's okay," Julian replied with a little shrug. He shoved his hands into his pockets, a soft smirk on his lips as he looked over at her.

Fiona pressed her lips together, eyes roaming over him. She started to open her mouth to speak again, but closed it once more almost immediately. Letting out a little sigh, then a laugh, she stepped to the side, holding the door open to invite him in.

"How do you like your coffee?" she asked, starting back toward the kitchen and allowing him to close and lock the door back behind him.

Julian followed behind her, still familiar with the layout of the house from all the times that he had spent there when they were younger. "Uhh, two cream, two sugars," he spoke, moving into the kitchen with her and leaning back against the counter.

Now that he had a proper chance, he took the opportunity to look her up and down. The clothes that she was wearing didn't leave much to the imagination. It was clear that she was wearing the same tank and boxers that she'd slept in, yet he wasn't complaining at all. She was beautiful in all of the same ways that he remembered, and even more.

After pouring and sweetening his coffee, Fiona handed over the cup to Julian, watching as he blew on the warm liquid, then took a sip. He hummed in appreciation, nodding as if to say that it was good.

"So, were you just in the neighborhood, or..?" she asked, tilting her head as she looked across the kitchen at him, retrieving her own cup of coffee and sipping from it.

Julian shook his head, "No, but this was my first full day off in a while, so I came by in the off chance that you might have some time off yourself," he shrugged. "Lucky me."

Fiona smiled and rolled her eyes playfully, shaking her head. He'd always loved when she did that. It let him know that he'd gotten a truly amused reaction out of her, and he never got tired of seeing her smile. After everything that had happened in her life, she deserved it.

"Yeah, lucky you," she teased him in return, reaching over and nudging him lightly. "Well.. what do you want to do? There's TV, limited but there. We could cook up some food, also limited but there," she laughed.

Julian let out a soft laugh at her joke, shaking his head. He pursed his lips in thought, shrugging his shoulders, "We could always go get more food if we wanted. You could come to my apartment and help me unpack," he teased, grin widening to let her know that he was only kidding.

Fiona scoffed, laughing at his teasing, "Yeah, because that's _exactly_ what I want to do on a day off," she spoke, her nose scrunching as she shook her head. "Breakfast may not be that bad, though."

He laughed shortly and nodded, "Is it just you here, or are the others going to be around to scavenge some food?"

She grinned at that, knowing just as easily as he said it that if her siblings were home and smelled breakfast, they'd emerge from their rooms to snatch it up even if nothing else had gotten them stirring.

"It's just me for now."

Julian nodded, smiling in response, "Okay, great. We should be able to scrape something together pretty easily, then," he spoke. Taking the last few sips of his coffee, he moved toward the sink to wash out his cup, then set it aside.

Fiona's brow arched as she watched him, a soft smirk on her lips. "Hey, maybe you should stick around for a bit, I think you might need to teach the kids how to do that," she joked, gesturing to how he'd cleaned out his own cup.

He smirked, looking over his shoulder at her as he used a dish towel to dry his hands, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind me sticking around for more reasons than that," he teased, playfully tossing the towel at her once his hands were dry.

She let out a little gasp as he tossed the towel at her, catching it before it made contact with her face. Her grin only widened as she looked at him and shook her head, "I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself there," she taunted him in return.

Julian put his hands to his chest, resting them over his heart, "Ouch, and here I was thinking we had something special," he spoke, feigning hurt, though the smile lingering at the corners of his lips gave him away.

He moved toward her then, gently tucking a stray strand of her behind her ear before kissing her temple and moving to her side. "C'mon, get dressed. We can either go to the store and grab some things, or we can go to my apartment and work with what I have there? I'd have to find my waffle maker, but I should have some mix, bacon and eggs?"

Fiona hummed to herself, pushing off of the counter that she had been leaning against as she considered her options. She couldn't help the growl of her stomach as he mentioned waffles, bacon and eggs. Sure, they could get all of that and bring it back here, but why put what he already had and was willing to share to waste?

"Let's go to your apartment. I want to see what kind of place a bigshot club persona like yourself lives," she teased him, grinning wide as she walked backward toward the stairs.

Julian rolled his eyes at her teasing and reached forward as she moved back, gently tickling her side with a large smile of his own. "Not a bigshot, but I'll be happy to try and impress you in other ways."

Fiona giggled and squirmed away from his tickling, shaking her head at his response. "Be sure to try your hardest, Moreno. Maybe it'll pay off," she replied, calling back to him over her shoulder as she went upstairs to change clothes.


	8. Chapter 8

Once Fiona had dressed and headed back downstairs, the two of them left her house and got into his truck, making their way to his apartment.

She couldn't help but wonder just what she would be walking into. Since she had known him, Julian's distant family had been wealthy, from the north side, but he had never been one to feed into their ideals of success or take handouts from them. He preferred to work for what he had. Still, if he was a part club owner and manager of that club, she'd consider that fairly successful.

Julian looked over at Fiona every so often as he drove, noting the thoughtful expression on her face with ease. It was the same expression that she always had when her mind was running wild, trying to process things just as fast as she could think of them. Reaching over, he set a hand against her thigh, squeezing gently to get her attention before allowing his hand to find hers, lacing their fingers together.

Fiona was torn from her thoughts at the squeeze to her thigh, finally allowing herself to look over at Julian, giving him a little smile as she did. He had a way of calming her that she hadn't experienced in a long time. She wanted to take her time with him, yet they had already lost so much that she wondered if it was better to just give in to her impulses.

"Almost there?" she asked him, squeezing his hand lightly.

He nodded, his thumb rubbing absently against her hand, "Almost there."

After a few more minutes of driving, he pulled into a parking space upon reaching his apartment. He allowed a second for her to get out, then did the same and locked the car, starting up to the apartment with her. They walked side by side into the building, rode the elevator upstairs, and then made the way through the hallway to his front door.

"Alright, here it is," he spoke, teasingly building suspense as he unlocked the door and pushed it open, allowing her to step inside first.

Fiona made her way past the threshold, looking around and taking it all in. Apart from the fact that he still had boxes from his move scattered about, she could tell that the place would come together well. It wasn't as high dollar as she was expecting, but it was definitely very nice. She supposed that could be because of the way Julian lived. He'd never been one to brag about his money or be too frivolous with it, and she assumed that hadn't changed.

"So, this is how the better half lives, huh? It's nice," she smiled over at him, slipping her shoes off near the door and walking further inside.

Julian laughed at her words, shaking his head lightly, "Don't get too ahead of yourself, Gallagher. I'm not officially your better half _yet_," he teased her.

Fiona's eyes rolled automatically as he teased her, reaching over to shove him lightly, "You know what I meant, dick," she said with a laugh.

He nodded and laughed once more, slipping his shoes off as well. As he started to move toward the kitchen, he took her hand in his, guiding her to follow along with him. "I'm renting this place for now," he explained. "Once the club is placed and opened here, I'll probably try and buy something more long term."

She listened as he spoke, allowing him to use her hand and guide her along behind him. "I see. Well, this place isn't half bad. Once you get everything unpacked, I'm sure that it'll look really good," she nodded.

"Thanks," he replied, releasing her hand once the reached the kitchen. "Okay, so.. in one of these boxes is my waffle maker and a skillet for the bacon and eggs. The question is, which box?" he spoke with a little chuckle.

"I guess I should have labeled them more than just 'kitchen', huh?"

Fiona arched her brow as she looked around to see several boxes scattered over the kitchen. "Yeah, probably so," she laughed quietly. Pursing her lips in thought, she looked at the different boxes, finding the box that seemed to be one of the biggest. She walked over to it, humming softly, "This should either be dishes or appliances."

Peeling back the tape, she opened the box, grinning as she spotted some pots and pans and a few small appliances. "I think it's in here."

Julian watched her closely, smiling as she said she'd found what they needed. "See? What would I do without you?" he asked teasingly, though there was also a genuine tone behind the statement.

Fiona took a skillet from the box, placing it on his counter as she smirked a bit at his question, "Let's hope that you don't have to figure it out any time soon."

He nodded to agree, moving to sort through the box with her, putting things to the side and out of the way as they went. "Aha! Here we go," he spoke, finding the waffle maker toward the bottom of the box. "I was worried for a second that we'd have to make pancakes instead," he joked.

She rolled her eyes light heartedly at his joke, grinning softly. "Oh, the horror," she teased him in return.

Julian's smile grew as she kept up with the joke, moving to grab the ingredients for the food and setting them out so they could begin to cook everything. He washed his hands and then moved toward the stove, getting everything started.

"So," he spoke as he mixed the batter for the waffles, looking over at Fiona as she seemed to absent mindedly begin to organize the things they'd taken out of the moving box.

"So?" she questioned, waiting for him to continue.

"Should we talk about what almost happened last time we spent time together, or..?" he trailed off, curious if they should discuss what it meant for them.

Fiona let out a little sigh at his question, fighting a groan that was threatening to leave her lips. "What is there to talk about? We made out, it could have went further, but it didn't.. it seems pretty black and white to me," she spoke with a soft laugh.

Julian shrugged his shoulders lightly, tilting his head. Sure, it was pretty clear what had happened. That wasn't the part that he was confused about, it was what would come after that remained unclear. "Well.." he spoke, thinking about how he wanted to phrase his words. "I guess I just wanted to know if it was something that you'd want to keep doing."

Her brow arched at that, a small smile upturning the corners of her lips. She didn't want to get her hopes up for anything, just incase everything fell apart, but if she were to have a second chance with him, she knew that she would be stupid not to take it. They had just been kids when they were together before, yet he'd still managed to treat her better than anyone that she'd been with over the years.

"I mean, I'd rather not do it that same way.." she started, allowing him a moment to think on what she was saying.

"Okay.." he started, biting down on the inside of his cheek as he waited for her to continue. He didn't want to allow himself to be too happy about all of this if it wasn't something that she wanted.

"If we're going to keep doing this, we're going to have to eventually not stop at just making out," Fiona finished, smirking mischievously, having seen the change in his expression before she'd continued.

Julian began to smirk along with her, shaking his head as he set the waffle mix aside, letting out a laugh and moving closer to her, "You're terrible, has anyone ever told you that?" he asked teasingly.

Fiona hummed, pretending to think about his question, "Only every day of my life," she spoke with a grin.

His arms slid low around her waist and he pulled her in close to him. Leaning in, he pressed a soft, lingering kiss against her lips, and as she kissed him back, her arms moved to wind around his neck. Their lips moved in sync, just as they had so many times before, and with each moment that passed, Julian found himself more and more grateful that he'd returned to Chicago.

After several more moments, he reluctantly pulled back enough to speak, "You know we're never going to have breakfast at this rate."

Fiona giggled softly against his lips, fingers weaving through the back of his hair to gently massage against his scalp. "I know, you have a real obsession with me. It might be a problem," she joked.

Julian let out a half-scoff, half-laugh at her words, shaking his head. As he was distracted by what she had said, Fiona reached over, dipping her finger in the waffle batter and then running it down along his nose, leaving a stripe of batter over his nose.

He gasped at the feeling of the batter against his skin, surprised that she would do something like that, knowing that it would cause him to retaliate. "You did not just do that," he spoke, keeping his tone calm. He backed away from her and as he did, she took her opportunity to get away from him, dashing across the kitchen.

"Actually, I think I just did," she replied, pacing herself from the other side of the kitchen island to make a run for it again.

Julian took the spoon that he'd been using to mix the batter and gathered some of the mixture onto it before flicking it at her, then going back for more.

"Julian!" Fiona let out a little yelp as the mixture hit her in the face, her voice almost a squeal and causing him to laugh as he took in what he'd done. He flicked the second spoonful at her, causing her to run at him, instead of away, in attempt to get more to hit him with.

"I only put it on your nose, so not fair!" she spoke, reaching her hand into the bowl and flicking what she could of the mixture onto him.

"Hey, you knew when you did that you'd start a war!" he replied, tossing the spoon aside and taking handfuls of the mixture, flinging them at her.

Her hands grabbed for the bowl, and she did what she could to wrestle it from him, finally doing so and using it to splash a larger quantity of the mix onto him. He let out a little yelp as he did his best to avoid it and failed, causing Fiona to laugh that much more.

As Julian tried to take the bowl back from her, she turned her back to him, trying to move away, though she didn't get far before he had wrapped his arms around her from behind and took hold of the bowl. She did her best to keep hold of it, yet he still managed to wrangle it from her grip, dumping the remaining contents over her head, causing her to scream as it spilled over her head.

Julian dropped the bowl, laughing as she wiped at the mixture that had dripped from her hair down into her face. He turned her to face him and she hit his chest lightly, "I'm so going to get you back for that," she threatened, though it was light-hearted.

"I'm sure you will," he spoke, using his thumbs to wipe the mixture away from her eyes, making sure it didn't drip into them. "To be fair, though, you did it to yourself," he smirked.

Fiona glared at him playfully, though she knew she probably didn't look intimidating at all while covered in batter. Shaking her head, she let out a little sigh, smiling up at him. "So.. no waffles. I guess bacon and eggs will have to do."

"Bacon and eggs it is," Julian nodded.

"I'm sure you'll want to shower first, though. You're really dirty."

"Me?" he replied a little incredulously. "Look at you!"

Fiona laughed, nodding, "Yeah, I should probably shower too because this dries up into my hair and becomes a real nightmare," she said biting the inside of her cheek as she waited for his response.

Julian nodded slowly, wondering if she was implying what he _thought_ she was implying. Reaching down, he took her hand in his, "Let's get you cleaned up, then," he spoke, gently tugging on her hand to pull her toward the bathroom.


	9. Chapter 9

Fiona followed Julian toward the bathroom with ease, hoping that the thoughts she'd been implying hadn't been too forward too quickly and wouldn't scare him off. They were both afraid of being abandoned and each showed it in their own ways, and it was evident that neither of them wanted to do things the wrong way and mess whatever was between them up again.

The two walked through the apartment to Julian's bedroom, then through that into the master bathroom. He moved toward the shower, turning on the faucet and adjusting the temperate. After making sure that it felt okay, Julian started to turn back to move toward his dresser. "Let me grab you something to wear after.. we can wash your clothes in the meantime if you want."

As Julian turned to step out of the bathroom, Fiona reached forward, grabbing his arm lightly to stop him. He turned to face her again, and as he did, she moved forward, pressing her lips against his as her arms slid up around his neck.

His brow arched at the sudden kiss, yet he accepted and returned it eagerly, his arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her in closer still. She let out a soft moan against his lips and used her arms around his neck to back herself against the wall, prompting him to pin her against it in response.

His hips pressed against hers as the kiss deepened, lips parting to allow access to each other's tongues as they moved together. His hands moved down from her waist to her hips, giving them a squeeze before they moved to her ass and did the same. After a moment, he lifted her up against him, prompting her to wrap her legs around him in response.

Fiona's hands moved from around his neck to pull at his clothing, removing his shirt first and tossing it aside, then doing the same with her own. He held onto her and as they stepped into the stream of the shower, Julian laughed as Fiona let out a little squeak of surprise at the feel of the water against her skin.

Fiona laughed as Julian did, the two of them working to continue removing the other's clothes.

Soon, his hand moved between them, slipping beneath the waistband of her panties and inside of them. As his fingertips grazed against her sensitive skin, Fiona let out a soft gasp, then a moan as they began to move in a slow but steady motion against her bundle of nerves.

Fiona's lips pressed more heatedly against Julian's and he let out a small groan of his own, feeling as she rolled her hips down to meet his fingers.

It had been so long since the two of them had been like this, yet he still remembered it all in intimate detail. The way she liked to be touched, the way that she liked to be fucked, and even the way that she'd moan that much louder when he hit just the right spot.

His fingers moved against her a bit longer before he moved them away, his lips trailing from hers, along her cheek and jaw, down to kiss and suck at her neck.

Fiona's head tipped back against the wall and her eyes closed as Julian sucked at her neck and collarbone, surely leaving marks behind in his wake. He was skilled at what he did, and even after all of this time, he seemed to read her like an open book.

Julian reached between them again, his hand pushing at his boxers enough to move them out of the way, taking his length into his hand and stroking it slowly. The two of them were both already pretty worked up, and at this point, they were only teasing each other.

Pushing her panties to the side, he teased her entrance, grinding his length back and forth between her folds at an almost tortuous pace.

Fiona whimpered at the feeling, squirming in his grasp to try and get more from him. "If you're going to fuck me, do it already, don't be a tease," she spoke, an urgency in her voice, though he could hear a pleading undertone.

He groaned at her words, and with that, pushed into her swiftly, drawing a loud groan from both of them as he filled her. Allowing her only a moment to adjust, his hips began to move against hers in a steady rhythm, hands squeezing at her hips as he guided them to meet his with each thrust.

Fiona's legs wrapped tightly around Julian's waist, hips moving against his, along with his guidance. One of her arms draped around his shoulders, keeping him close, her other hand moving to slip beneath his chin, guiding his lips away from her neck and back to hers.

Julian sighed into the kiss, a murmured groan of her name falling from his lips to hers as he basked in just how good it felt to be with her and be inside of her again after all of this time.

Fiona's arm remained around his shoulders, her hips pumping back against his, and as he picked up the pace, fucking her harder, he heard her moan louder.

A soft smirk played on his lips and his hips moved against hers more sharply and more quickly than before. He groaned into their kiss as she seemed to cling to him that much more, nails digging into his back with each slam of his hips.

With each passing moment, their moans grew louder and closer together as the movement of their hips grew more erratic. He could tell that she was growing close by the way that her mouth fell open, a soft pant leaving her lips with each moan, her eyes beginning to gloss over as her walls tightened around him.

Prompted by his desire to drive her completely over the edge, he moved a hand between them, his thumb finding her clit with ease, rubbing quick circles over the little bud.

The action drew a cry of pleasure from her lips louder than the ones before, breaking their kiss as her eyes rolled back before falling closed, head falling back against the tile. He could feel the way that she quivered in his arms, teetering over the edge as his name fell from her lips along with a series of curses.

"Fi.. come for me, baby," Julian urged her, lips gentle against her ear. He knew that once she let go, it would only take mere seconds for him to follow.

His words seemed to be enough, as after he spoke them, she let out another loud cry, followed by several more as her walls constricted and spasmed around him.

The feeling of her muscles around him seemed to milk him of his own release, lasting a few more thrusts before he reached his own climax with a loud long groan.

Julian continued to move somewhat erratically until they each were done, drawing an uncharacteristic whimper from Fiona as he slowed to a stop.

"Fuck," she murmured, letting out a breathy laugh as she pushed her hair away from her face, starting to try and catch her breath.

"That was.." Julian started, but was soon interrupted as Fiona spoke up again.

"Even better than you remember? Yeah, same."

He let out a laugh at that, nodding, "Yeah, exactly."

Julian bit down on his lip in the center, looking at the brunette in his arms with a fondness that he'd held onto for years, only accentuated by what they'd just done. After another moment or so, he cleared his throat, carefully setting her down on her feet and stepping back from her.

"You're still a mess," he smirked, looking at the bits of batter still in her hair.

As she started to open her mouth to protest, he pointed to her hair to remind her what he'd meant. Fiona laughed then, shaking her head. "Oh.. right. Well, let's get cleaned up. I think we've both worked up a fair bit of appetite now," she grinned up at him.

He rolled his eyes playfully at her joking, moving to grab the soap and shampoo, offering her one of the bottles as he started with the other.

"I missed you, you know," he spoke softly.

"I know," she nodded. "I missed you too."


	10. Chapter 10

**FLASHBACK**

It had been a few weeks since Julian and Fiona had their first date, complete with their first kiss. Despite some stares and disapproving looks in the hallway, the two had gotten together not long after their date.

Julian had been taught from a young age that no person is better than another based on their status or popularity, only because of the kind of person that they were, and he always wanted to be the type of guy that could be seen as a good person.

It had taken a bit more adjustment for Fiona, though she came around eventually. The attention to their newfound relationship wasn't something that she was used to, and at times she found herself doubting if she was truly deserving of Julian.

He always quickly dismissed those notions, yet still, he couldn't be around all of the time. He couldn't be around when she was in the locker room at gym and track practices, receiving dirty looks from girls who said that she wasn't good enough. She did her best to ignore it all, yet sometimes it proved harder than others.

Even when she struggled, though, Julian continued to do what he could to show her that it was her that he liked and wanted. He always made a point to treat her the best that he could, and he truly felt that she deserved it. Her life hadn't been the easiest thus far, and she still remained a great person, and for that, he felt she deserved the world.

Julian closed his locker after dropping his books off there before lunch, planning to meet Fiona at her own locker once he was done so they could eat together. When he closed the locker, however, he saw Jessica, a girl he recognized from the track team with Fiona, looking up at him.

"Hi, Julian," she smiled, brushing her blonde hair over her shoulder as she grinned up at him.

He eyed her confusedly, tilting his head as he looked back at her, "Hey.." he replied, tone questioning.

"Jessica," she filled in the blanks since he didn't use her name.

"Jessica," he repeated. "What's up?" he asked, glancing down the long hallway toward Fiona's locker, knowing that she was likely waiting for him.

It wasn't that girls didn't talk to him. Julian was a friendly guy, and knew a lot of the people in the school, even if he didn't hang out with many of them. For the most part, he had finally shaken the stereotype of being a northsider douche, but there were still some people who were skeptic, and he preferred to stick to the small group of friends that he'd made on the football team.

"Well," Jessica started, reaching up as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. "I was talking to Jake, and he said he was thinking we should do a double date sometime."

Julian arched his brow a bit, tilting his head curiously, "Oh, okay. I thought Jake was dating that one cheerleader.. Courtney, right?"

Jessica smirked a bit at Julian's response, stepping in a bit closer to him. "He is, yeah. We mean Jake and Courtney, and me and you."

He let out a little scoff at that, shaking his head, "I'm dating Fiona, Jessica. You and Jake both know that."

The blonde closed in further still, leaving limited room between her, Julian, and the locker. "Well, yeah.. but you don't _have_ to be. Besides, I'm _very_ good at keeping secrets," she spoke, lowering her voice seductively as she ran a finger down the center of his chest, toward his abs.

Julian tensed and froze as she touched him and it was then that he heard a familiar voice.

"What the _fuck_?" Fiona spat, taking in the sight of Jessica and Julian within such close proximity of one another, Jessica's finger slowly gliding lower and lower.

She spun on her heel, feeling that she'd seen all that she needed to. Everyone had been right about him, he was just some north side douche, slumming it with her. The proof was in all that she'd just seen. After all, why else would he allow Jessica to be so close, and to touch him that way?

His hand moved to grab Jessica's and pull it away, and he pushed past her, taking after Fiona.

"Fi! Fiona, wait!"

She continued to walk, quickening her pace as she heard Julian coming after her. She could hear him calling for her, but she wasn't going to stop. Why should she?

Julian saw her beginning to move faster and sighed, beginning to sprint behind her. As he finally caught up to her outside of the school, he grabbed her arm, turning her to face him.

"Hey — please just listen to me. That's not what it looked like in there," he started.

"Really? Because what it looked like was that you weren't going to stop her before she reached all the way down your pants," Fiona snapped, yanking her arm away from Julian's grip.

Julian let out a little huff, frustrated with himself more than anything. He knew that he shouldn't have let Jessica get that close to him, and he shouldn't have let her touch him. He'd been so wrapped up in the fact that the girl had said the guy he considered his best friend had tried to screw up his relationship with Fiona, only because he didn't agree with it.

"I know, I'm sorry. She just — she told me something and I was distracted, in my own head, and before I could realize it, there she was, then there you were. It looked bad, but I promise, nothing is going on there. I want _you_. Not anyone else."

Fiona eyed him skeptically, arms crossed so he couldn't just pull her in so easily. Shifting from one foot to the other, she looked up at him as she listened.

"What could she have possibly told you that left you so brain dead that you couldn't move away?"

Julian bit down on the inside of his cheek, wondering for a second if he should tell her what was truly said. If he lied and she found out later, it would only make things worse.

"She told me that my friend Jake.. the one who's supposed to be my best friend.. suggested that we go on a double date."

Fiona was even more confused then. "But, Jake's with Courtney from the cheer team."

"Exactly," Julian spoke, giving it a moment for everything to set in for her.

As she thought, Fiona nodded slowly, "He was saying Jessica should be your date."

Julian nodded, letting out a sigh, "Yeah. I- I'm sorry. I didn't think he would do anything like that, and she caught me off guard."

Reaching forward cautiously, he gently grabbed her elbows, lightly tugging down on them to uncross her arms, his hands sliding into hers afterward.

"Fi.. you're the only one that I want. Please, I'm sorry. I should have reacted more."

Fiona exhaled heavily, but allowed Julian to uncross her arms, his hands gripping hers soon after. She rolled her eyes lightly at his last words, shaking her head.

"If she touches you again, I'm going to break her fingers. And if you don't react to it, I'm going to break your face," she spoke, words harsh, yet the corners of her lips began to upturn.

Julian grinned at that, "That's my girl."

He tugged her closer by her hands, releasing his grip on one of them, cupping her cheek as he leaned in and kissed her softly. The kiss lingered for a few moments before he pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.

"I was actually planning to ask you something at lunch," he started.

"Oh yeah? What?" she questioned, dark eyes looking up into his.

"Well, my mom is going to be home at a reasonable time tonight, and you know, she's been wanting to meet the girl that in her words, I talk so much about," he started with a grin.

"Do you want to have dinner at my house?"

Fiona tilted her head, smiling softly, "Are you inviting me to meet your mom, Moreno?"

Julian chuckled at her use of his last name, nodding lightly, "I am, Gallagher."

Fiona smirked quietly for a moment or two before nodding, agreeing. "Okay. Yeah, I'll be there."

Julian texted his mom on the way back to class after lunch, letting her know that Fiona would be coming over for dinner and to meet her.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but feel nervous about it. Sure, it was meant to be a no pressure situation, and Fiona was the one meeting his mom, not the other way around, yet he still felt anxious. More than anything, he wanted his mom and Fiona to like each other.

After school and after practice for each of them, they cleaned up, then took the train to Julian's house.

Getting off at the closest stop, the young couple started walking toward the house, Julian taking Fiona's hand into his as he saw hers begin to fidget nervously.

"You nervous?" he asked, looking over at her to judge her expression.

"Honestly? Yeah," she answered, biting down on the inside of her cheek as she looked back at him.

Julian shook his head, "Don't be. I'm sure that my mom is going to love you. After all, I like you pretty well," he teased, nudging her shoulder with his.

Fiona smirked at his teasing, shaking her head as well. "Yeah, you'd better."

Julian chuckled softly, keeping hold of her hand as he moved his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to his side. He kissed the top of her head gently, nodding, "Oh, I do. Trust me."

Their conversation continued with scattered laughter and small acts of affection as they neared Julian's house. Walking up to the front door, he unlocked it and let the two of them inside. He pushed open the door, stepping in, then to the side to let Fiona enter behind him.

"Mom?" he called, slipping his shoes off at the door. He hung his keys on the hook by the door, spotting his mom's set and knowing that she was already home.

"In the dining room, love," Emilia called back, setting the table for dinner.

Julian looked over his shoulder at Fiona, watching as her eyes moved around the room, taking in the sight of the large home. Reaching out his hand, he took hers gently. "Ready?" he asked.

Fiona looked over at him finally as he gripped her hand, squeezing his with a little nod. "As ready as I'll ever be," she replied.

Nodding, he squeezed her hand in return, guiding her toward the dining room. Seeing his mom, he stopped a bit away, speaking as Fiona stayed close beside him.

"Mom, this is Fiona. Fiona, this is my mom, Emilia," Julian spoke, gesturing between the two as he said their names.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, Ms. Moreno," Fiona spoke, offering her hand for the other woman to shake.

Emilia stepped forward, smiling at the younger girl, giving her a gentle hug instead, "Fiona, it's great to meet you, Julian's told me so much. And call me Emilia, please."

"Okay, Emilia," Fiona nodded, "and all good things, I hope."

"Oh, of course, nothing but. I'm fairly sure that this one's never talked so highly of another girl."

Emilia reached forward, lightly tousling Julian's hair, to which he playfully swatted at her hand.

"You didn't have to set the table, I could have done it," he told his mother, grabbing the silverware she had left to distribute and doing it instead.

"I wanted it to be done before you both got here, but I ran a little behind. Fiona, do you want anything to drink?" Emilia asked, directing her attention to her again.

Fiona smiled politely, "I wouldn't want to impose or anything.. water would be fine, please."

Emilia shook her head, waving her off, "Please, you're not imposing in the slightest. Make yourself at home. I'll be right back with that," she spoke, then took off to the kitchen.

Julian arched his brow, smirking a little as his mom left the room, "I think that's the nicest that I've ever seen you be," he teased her, stepping closer to her once more.

Fiona rolled her eyes, letting out a laugh, "Well, obviously. What about you? This is.. nice. Somehow, I thought you'd have service staff or something."

He scoffed at that, "No, it's not like that. My mom doesn't like hand-outs, she prefers to do everything herself," he shrugged.

Reaching forward, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, leaning over and kissing her cheek gently.

At that moment, Emilia reentered the room, offering Fiona a glass of water, smiling a knowing smile. She remembered how it felt to be so young, yet care so much for another, and she was glad that Julian had found someone he cared so much for.

"Dinner's almost ready, it just has about 15 or so more minutes. In the meantime, Julian, why don't you show Fiona around? No reason to stand around staring at each other," Emilia spoke, grinning at the two teens.

Julian nodded to agree, "Alright, yeah. You want to?" he asked Fiona, offering his hand to her.

Fiona thanked Emilia for the water when it was handed to her, taking a sip as Emilia spoke up. When Julian asked if she wanted a look around, she nodded, "Sure, that would be nice," she replied. Taking a few more sips of her water, she set the glass down on the table at one of the place settings. "I'll come back for that."

She took Julian's hand and he smiled, gently tugging her along, "We'll be back. Call up to us when it's ready if we're not back before then," he told his mother, and she agreed.

His fingers slid through Fiona's, lacing them together as they walked. "So, that was the dining room. Through here is the living room, and then the den."

He showed her several more rooms to which she nodded appreciatively, then led her to the stairs. Once they reached the top, he headed to the left. "In there is my bathroom, and then here is my bedroom," he spoke, pushing the door open and letting her walk inside.


	11. Chapter 11

**FLASHBACK**

Fiona made her way into Julian's room slowly, and he followed, allowing her to take everything in. Her eyes moved over the different décor, the sports memorabilia, and even to the picture of him and his mother in the frame on his desk.

Closing the door behind them, Julian smiled a little as he saw her looking at the picture. Walking to stand behind her, he placed his hands against her sides, resting his chin on her shoulder. "What do you think?" he asked, thumbs brushing absent-mindedly along her hips.

"I like it," Fiona replied almost immediately, nodding. "When was this picture taken?" she asked, gesturing to it.

Julian turned his eyes back to the photo in the frame, smiling a bit fondly at the memories that came to his mind. "We were just about to see the Disney movie Tarzan in theaters.. for the second time. We both really liked it. I had mentioned that I wanted to watch it again, and my grandparents told me I'd have to wait until it came out on video. My mom said no, and she took me again later that week. I think that part of her just wanted to spite them, but it was still really cool."

Fiona glanced over her shoulder as he spoke, smiling as he described the time that he'd had with his mom with such a sentiment behind his words. "You seem like the two of you are really close," she spoke.

He nodded to agree, smiling, "Yeah. As stupid as it sounds, she's probably one of my best friends."

Fiona turned in his grasp, arms circling around his neck as she shook her head. "It doesn't sound stupid. I think it's great. I wish I had as good of a relationship with either of my parents."

Julian leaned in, resting his forehead against hers as he lifted his hand, caressing her cheek gently. "I wish you could too. You deserve so much more," he said quietly.

Fiona felt a pang in her chest at his words, unable to help but smile. He was so kind, and caring, and so, _so_ good to her. At times, she didn't feel like she deserved it.

Leaning in, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips, her fingers threading into the back of his hair as her lips moved against his.

Julian let out a small, content groan at the feel of her lips against his, his arms moving around her waist, holding her close to him as he returned her kiss. He parted his lips after a few moments to deepen it, fingertips teasing just underneath the back of her shirt.

As his fingers began to move further up along her back, the two of them startled slightly as they heard a knock against the door.

"Hey kids, dinner's ready when you want to come down," Emilia called out from the other side of the door.

Fiona bit down on the inside of her cheek, stifling a laugh as she and Julian stepped back from one another.

"Alright, mom. We'll be down soon, thanks," he replied after a moment, smirking down at Fiona, seeing the way that she was stifling her laughter.

Once they heard Emilia make her way back downstairs, Fiona allowed herself to laugh, Julian grinning wide and shaking his head at her. "Does this count as you corrupting me, or the other way around?" he joked. "I just need to know who's the bad influence here."

Fiona hummed, pretending to think about it. "I think you're corrupting me. I've been nothing but an angel since we got here," she teased.

Julian arched his brow as he laughed. "Oh, is that right?" Reaching forward, he tickled her sides, causing her to squeal and squirm away before he wrapped an arm around her waist, using his other hand to continue tickling her.

"Julian!" she squeaked out, trying her best to get away, though she could barely think from how hard that she was laughing.

He chuckled softly at her attempts to get away, lightening up and eventually stopping the tickling after a few more moments. "Alright, alright," he spoke, kissing the side of her head. "Let's get downstairs before my mom thinks we were making out in my room or something," he smirked.

Fiona scoffed, hugging him close for a moment before pulling away and moving toward the door, "Yeah, we wouldn't want that, would we?"

The two teens made their way downstairs and took a seat at the dining room table, along with Emilia, Julian grinning across the table at Fiona from where he sat.

"So, Fiona, tell me about yourself. Julian's already said so much, but I'd love to get to know you a little better," Emilia spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"Well.." Fiona started, trying to think. "I'm a freshman, like Julian. I'm on the JV track team —"

"And she's the best one on it," Julian spoke up, giving his girlfriend a little wink when she looked at him, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't go that far," she laughed. "I'm the oldest of my siblings. There's five of us, me, Lip, Ian, Debbie, and Carl. They're really great kids."

Julian smiled at Fiona's protest, his expression leveling a bit when she talked about her siblings, knowing that she did a lot to take care of them. He'd heard around school about her parents, as well as what she'd told him, and he knew that she had basically stepped up as a second mom to all of them.

Emilia nodded as she listened to Fiona, smiling politely. "And your parents? What do they do for work?"

Julian's eyes widened a little and he tried to subtly motion for his mom to drop it and change the subject. "Mom," he spoke up, shaking his head.

Fiona saw the way Julian tried to change the subject and shook her head, "It's fine. My umm.. my parents don't work. My mom is in and out, mostly out, of our lives these days, and my dad's not exactly a great parent himself. They're not the best but, we work with what we're given, I guess."

As she listened to Fiona's explanation, Emilia couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the younger girl. Obviously, she didn't have it easy, and having been a single mom, she knew how hard it could be to take care of a kid on your own. Still, she couldn't imagine having done so being as young as Fiona and with four other kids to watch out for.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Fiona. If there's ever anything that I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," Fiona nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Julian could sense the tension in the air, and he could understand if Fiona were uncomfortable. "Fi left out the part where she's really smart. Even with everything she has going on, she still keeps really good grades. She's really awesome, mom."

Fiona smiled as she heard Julian's praise, her cheeks flushing lightly as he continued to compliment her.

"I believe you, mi amor. She seems like a very well-rounded young lady," Emilia agreed, giving Fiona a smile and reaching over to gently squeeze the young girl's arm.

"Thank you, Ms — I mean, Emilia," Fiona spoke softly. After a moment, she spoke again, "This dinner is delicious. I could definitely get used to such great cooking," she laughed.

Emilia smiled wide at the compliment. "Thank you, dear. I'll be sure to send some leftovers home for you and your family if you'd like that. Plus, Julian has actually been learning to make this and a few other dishes."

Julian's cheeks were the ones that began to flush at that, and he looked down at his plate, "Mom.."

Fiona grinned, lightly nudging his foot with hers under the table. "Really? That's actually really cool. Most guys our age can't even make microwaved popcorn," she joked.

"That's what I told him! See, Julian? Your girlfriend finds it attractive, you should own it," Emilia teased him.

Julian rolled his eyes playfully, smirking to himself as he didn't say what he wanted to — that Fiona found everything about him attractive. Instead, he simply nodded, looking across the table to meet Fiona's gaze with his. "I'll keep that in mind for the future."

The conversations continued throughout their meal, and once they were done, Julian and Fiona excused themselves from the table, the former moving to grab the dishes and bring them toward the kitchen. Fiona moved to help him, but Julian and Emilia both disagreed.

"You're a guest," Emilia said. "Don't worry about the dishes, they'll be taken care of."

"Are you sure? I guess it's just a force of habit," Fiona said with a small laugh.

"Positive. I'll get to them in a bit," Julian spoke up.

Fiona nodded to acknowledge them, allowing Julian to bring the dishes to the sink, but following him still, leaning against the counter beside the sink as he rinsed them and prepared them to be washed.

Emilia made her way into the kitchen shortly after, grabbing a few takeaway containers and sorting out some leftovers for Fiona before packing away the rest into the fridge for her and Julian.

Once Julian had finished up the dishes and put them into the dishwasher, he cleaned his hands, then turned to Fiona. "You probably have to get home soon, right?" he asked, though he was reluctant to let her go.

Fiona nodded, "Unfortunately. The kids are probably waiting on me. Lip's in charge right now, so it will probably be chaos once I get home," she said with a little laugh.

"Alright," he spoke, reaching out and taking her hand, pulling her in and pressing a kiss to her cheek. The act made her flush, especially considering Emilia was still close by.

Julian grabbed the takeaway containers his mom had put together for her and used his free hand to keep a hold on Fiona's, guiding her back out into the living room. "Mom, Fiona has to get back home. I'm going to ride with her, I'll be back home before curfew."

Emilia turned away from the TV and nodded, listening to her son. Standing, she opened her arms to Fiona for a hug. "Okay, be safe, you two. Thank you for coming, Fiona. It was really nice meeting you, and I hope to see you again soon. You're welcome any time."

Returning the hug, Fiona grinned at Julian over his mom's shoulder, seeing the way that he was looking on at the two of them fondly. "Thank you for inviting me. I'll be sure to come back again soon. I had a really good time."

The two teenagers made their way to the train, getting onto the one headed back in the direction of Fiona's house, then settling into a couple of seats. Fiona almost instantly settled against Julian's side, laying her head against his shoulder. Julian obliged quickly, draping his arm around her shoulders and kissing the side of her head. He allowed her to rest that way for most of the ride, content to just have her close to him.

Once they reached their stop, the two got out and continued their walk to Fiona's place.

"I really liked your mom," Fiona said after several minutes, eyes shifting to look up at him.

"Yeah? I think that she liked you too," Julian nodded, smiling down at his girlfriend.

"I've never brought a girl home before, but that was probably the best outcome that I could have imagined."

Fiona tilted her head a bit, "Are you sure that I didn't ruin her impression of me with the whole thing about my parents?" she asked.

Julian returned her gaze with a confused expression, "No, why would you think that? No. She knows better than anyone that the way that someone's parents think or act doesn't determine how they are as a person. You're so much more than your crappy parents, and I'm sure she saw that," he reassured her.

Fiona nodded as she listened to him, allowing herself to relax with him a bit more. "You're really good to me. I'm really glad that I let myself go out with you."

He grinned at that, feeling his stomach flutter a bit at her words. It was silly, wasn't this supposed to be the other way around? Still, he couldn't help but feel that much happier and more alive when he was around her. The two of them were young, but something told him that they could have something real.

"I'm glad too."

He hesitated for a few moments then, considering his next words carefully. The last thing that he wanted was to scare her off. Still, he knew that he had to tell her how he felt.

As they reached her front door, he moved to stand in front of her, pulling her close to him. Holding her hand in his, he knew it was now or never.

"I know that it's fast, and that we're young, but Fiona, I think I'm falling in love with you."

Fiona froze where she stood for a moment, in a bit of shock and trying to process what he'd just said. Part of her told her to run. It was too soon, and they were too young, and it was just the teenage hormones talking. Yet, the other part of her told her that she should say it back. So what if it was simply hormonal, and so what if one day it all ended? At least she'd know that she took that chance.

"Come inside with me."


End file.
